Left Hand Valley Courier - All Local, All The Time

He was number 1,200 in the cue for the Small Business Administration helpline. Two and a half hours later, Michael Tomich got through to a real person who pointed him to a specific loan application to get a lifeline for his business, The Old Oak Coffeehouse in Niwot. It was a different form than the one he initially found on the SBA website, making it worth the time and patience he needed to spend hours on hold.

"This is stressful and I'm spending huge amounts of time on it," said Tomich who is slogging through the process, because it's his best hope. "It could keep us open for a couple mo...